Spirit as intimate teacher

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today point to how we are taught by the Spirit.

Encounter the Spirit

In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul argues for the recognition of God’s existence and presence through His activity in natural phenomena.

* [14:15–17] This is the first speech of Paul to Gentiles recorded by Luke in Acts (cf. Acts 17:22–31). Rather than showing how Christianity is the logical outgrowth of Judaism, as he does in speeches before Jews, Luke says that God excuses past Gentile ignorance and then presents a natural theology arguing for the recognition of God’s existence and presence through his activity in natural phenomena.

In the Gospel from John, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will be a teacher and One who reminds us of Jesus.

The Paraclete in John is a teacher, a witness to Jesus, and a prosecutor of the world, who represents the continued presence on earth of the Jesus who has returned to the Father.

Howard Carter comments on the Holy Spirit as teacher and rugby coach.

In fact the passage we are looking at Illustrates that process (midrash) very well. Jesus says something and we have the rest of his teaching in response to his disciple’s questions of clarification. In this case, the other Judas… and I’m sure he must of got fed up with having to differentiate himself from the Judas who betrayed Jesus, in fact in the other gospels he is identified with Thaddeus…asks Jesus why he is only going to reveal himself to his disciples not the world? The answer that Jesus gives is that he will reveal himself to those who love him by keeping his commandments. It is in this relationship carried on by the Paraclete that Jesus will be revealed.

Mike Cherney is reminded of the idea that an understanding of Jesus’ message flows from the insight and change of heart that the Spirit brings.

My prayer today focuses on an understanding of the Christian message from the change of heart that the Holy Spirit brings. I pray for the strength to overcome the limitations brought about by my personal disposition.
Dear Lord,
Help me to open my heart to Your words and to Your Spirit.
Free me from my existing biases and misunderstandings.
Give me the direction in my actions that wisdom can bring.
Support me with the endurance needed to properly invest my time and effort.

Don Schwager comments on how Saint Augustine says the Lord loves us.

Saint Augustine says the Lord loves each of us as if there were only one of us to love. God’s love for each of us is as real and tangible as the love of a mother for her child and the love of a lover who gives all for his beloved. God made us in love for love - to know him personally and to grow in the knowledge of his great love for us and to love him in return.

Friar Jude Winkler suggests that the crazy consequence of Paul healing the man in Lystra is proof that the incident really happened. He notes the strong sense of predestination in John’s Gospel and compares the view of Calvin and Catholics on this. The Holy Spirit will teach and remind us by generating a resonance within when we encounter word and deed in harmony with Jesus Way.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, teaches that it is our lonely and fearful illusion of separateness that makes us do sinful and selfish things.

Sin is a refusal of mutuality and a closing down into separateness. In his classic book, The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis has a ghostly soul in hell shouting out, “I don’t want help. I want to be left alone.” [1] Whenever we refuse mutuality toward anything, whenever we won’t allow our deep inner-connectedness to guide us, whenever we’re not attuned to both receiving and giving, you could say that the Holy Spirit is existentially (but not essentially) absent from our lives.

We are not alone. We are intrinsically like the Trinity. We are called to live in an absolute relatedness of self-emptying and infilling.

References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 14 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 30, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/14:3

(n.d.). John, chapter 14 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 30, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/john/14:21

(2013, April 21). HOW IN THE WORLD!!: The Paraclete as Teacher (John 14:22-31 .... Retrieved April 30, 2018, from http://howard-carter.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-paraclete-as-teacher-john-1422-31.html

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 30, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 30, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2018, April 28). Daily Meditations Archive: April 2018 - Center for Action and .... Retrieved April 30, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2018/04/